Good morning and welcome to Part Three of our war on food waste… I have been very heartened by the comments on the first two posts and pleased at how seriously many of you are taking this…I don’t want you to go away disheartened but enlightened we can all do something to help save our beautiful world and leave a legacy of hope for our children and grandchildren… I love hearing how you do your bit I think you are all brilliant and together we will make a difference …

Today I am looking at the 4 types of waste in the home and how I try to do my little bit. I would also love to hear what you do what you have changed…

Asia is not the leading light in reducing waste what I see here horrifies me at times BUT I am also seeing signs of change which is great news…

Organic Waste...comprises of vegetables, fruits, flowers and leaves…For the last few weeks, I have covered this and have taken steps to cut my waste and have given you some recipes I am always on the lookout for more recipes using parts of the fruits and vegetables which we would normally throw away.

Who throws away the celery leaves? I did before I lived here…Similar to parsley, celery leaves can be used in salads, smoothies, soups and stews and other dishes I have even juiced them and used as a brine for bacon as celery has natural nitrates. My favourite use is as one of my ingredients in my homemade chicken stock. Celery leaves are high in vitamin A for starters…

Pumpkins are in season and everywhere and are chock full of seeds… seeds which are packed with magnesium, zinc, copper, protein and omega-3 fats. They provide prostate health benefits to men and may help to relieve menopause symptoms for women. Pumpkin seed is delicious just toasted in the oven with a bit of olive oil and salt.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2017/11/01/smorgasbord-health-cook-from-scratch-with-sally-and-carol-taylor-pumpkin-seeds/

Toxic Waste... I like many people I am sure when I read this list didn’t associate all of this with toxic waste…I didn’t think and I should have done…

Old Medications, Paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertiliser and pest control containers, batteries and shoe polish…How many of you like me have just chucked some of these in the bin???

I never used to think! Medications, paints and batteries I did recycle separately… What do I do now …I don’t buy aerosol cans anymore and haven’t for a number of years, Fertilisers and pest control I don’t buy with the exception of coils for Mosi’s and shoe polish well I don’t polish my flip-flops but never gave shoe polish a thought when I used to polish shoes and boots…

Cleaners I make or buy organic ones and refills not in plastic bottles, in fact, the cleaner I use comes in a brown paper sachet and is dissolved in water…One of the best cleaners I have used it removes stains and grease and I don’t have to wear gloves and with my skin, I always have had to up until I started to use this one. I was given it to test and was very sceptical…I mean ladies who haven’t been taken in by clever marketing and needed a gas mask and gloves and it didn’t do what it said on the tin????

What is it called?   Morris Clean read my review here

Recyclable…Paper, Glass, metals, Plastics…

Much is in the news and press about plastic and the environment…We have all seen it and maybe got too used to seeing it!

Did you know? 

If  WE didn’t use plastic in our homes for a year 1 million marine lives would be saved???

Much is starting to be done in Asia and many islands are being closed due to damage to the ecosystem and that is brilliant … How can we help?

We can be aware of what plastic we buy, purchase glass bottles where possible, dispose of plastic properly… Look at what we can buy instead of plastic if we buy take out drinks take our own cup and straws…There are alternatives…

Today I am looking at straws…A small thing but one which causes untold damage to the ecosystem… When I was young we had paper straws and yes I will admit they didn’t last long so maybe not such a good idea…

We now have stainless steel straws and to save burning our lips on a hot beverage they have little caps to protect our delicate lips. My self I love bamboo straws although the glass ones are very pretty and of course we have silicon straws which as long as they are BPA FREE are an option…

Did you know??

Straws take 200 years to break down…Maybe we all should stop using plastic straws and look at alternatives… Even The Queen of England has done that!

I think the words pretty but deadly spring to mind …..To help you decide I have added a link…

https://pebblemag.com/magazine/living/5-eco-friendly-alternatives-to-plastic-straws

Soiled waste…Materials soiled with blood or other bodily fluids or waste, disposable nappies ( diapers)

Who remembers with pride that lovely line full of snow-white nappies billowing in the breeze and how soft they were without using fabric softener??

Then along came disposable nappies to lighten our workload…A godsend…That has turned into a nightmare for the environment …

Do you know???

It takes 200- 500 years for a disposable nappy to decompose and how much methane gas they produce???

The good news is that in The Netherlands nappies are composted by using an industrialised system and there is no reason why that system could not be adopted by other countries…

Also although we cannot choose girls use fewer nappies than boys…

If you are concerned about this then this article is a very good one and provides both sides of the argument.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/3293442/Nappies-reusable-or-disposable.html

Thank you for reading this and I hope it has made you feel positive about stepping up your recycling and doing your own research on how you can help Save our World and Wildlife for future generations…Even if it means taking a half hour and writing to your MP or a manufacturer of goods you purchase ask them what they are doing are they being responsible because the onus is not just on us but governments and manufacturers if we don’t show them we care…They will carry on…

We as the consumer have the power…Look what happened to Monsanto they felt the power of the people and we can talk by our actions …

Until next Thursday when there will be more about waste and how we can address it …If you have any ideas I will publish them so please send them into me and I will credit you by linking back to your blog.

Old Boots…Just a thought…

Have a lovely day xxx

 

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://blondieaka.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week 🙂 xx